Adam Goodrum and the Australian outdoor furniture changing alfresco living

Australian outdoor furniture has often been treated as a practical extension of the home: durable, weather-resistant and easy to stack away when the season changes. Adam Goodrum’s work with Melbourne manufacturer Tait proposes something more ambitious. His designs give outdoor settings the same visual intelligence, material sensitivity and sculptural presence expected of an interior.

The Dapple collection is a particularly clear expression of that approach. With its perforated aluminium surfaces, softened geometry and vivid powder-coated finishes, the range is recognisable without being loud. It suits a private courtyard, a hospitality terrace or a civic landscape because it feels considered in each setting rather than tied to a single decorating trend.

Goodrum’s contribution sits within a broader Australian design story. Local manufacturing, responsive climate design and a willingness to experiment with colour have helped create a distinctive outdoor furniture language. The result is a collection that speaks to the designer’s curiosity while demonstrating how a homegrown brand can compete in an international market.

From Perth beginnings to a national design practice

Adam Goodrum was born in Perth and studied industrial design at the University of Technology Sydney. His practice has moved comfortably between furniture, lighting, domestic objects and large-scale installations, with an interest in the relationship between engineered structure and human use. That breadth matters when considering his outdoor work: a chair is never simply a seat, but part of a spatial and social arrangement.

His designs frequently begin with a strong visual idea and then test that idea through fabrication. Curves, repeated components and folded planes are refined until they become useful as well as distinctive. This balance has made Goodrum a prominent figure in Australian industrial design, where the best work often has to satisfy both a demanding architectural brief and the realities of local production.

The partnership with Tait gives this design language a particularly suitable platform. Founded in Melbourne, Tait develops and manufactures outdoor furniture in Australia, combining its own product direction with collaborations from leading designers. The company’s focus on local making allows Goodrum’s concepts to remain closely connected to the people, tools and processes that bring them into production.

The visual character of Dapple

Dapple takes its name from the shifting pattern of light and shade created by its perforated metal surfaces. The effect is decorative, but it also has a functional role. The openings allow air to move through the furniture, reduce visual weight and create changing shadows across paving, decking and walls as the sun travels through the day.

The collection’s rounded frames and punched surfaces give it a friendly, approachable character. There is none of the severe minimalism sometimes associated with commercial-grade outdoor furniture. Instead, Dapple has a sense of rhythm and softness, qualities that help it sit naturally beside planting, textured masonry and relaxed architectural forms.

Colour is another important part of the range. Powder-coated finishes can establish a quiet relationship with a neutral building or provide a concentrated accent within a garden. A deep green can echo foliage, a warm tone can pick up brickwork, and a pale finish can make a compact terrace feel brighter. This flexibility is one reason the collection works across residential and commercial applications.

The perforation also changes the way the furniture is experienced from different distances. Close up, the pattern communicates craft and precision. From across a room or courtyard, it becomes a delicate visual texture. That shift between detail and silhouette is central to Goodrum’s success as a product designer.

Designed for Australian conditions

Outdoor furniture in Australia has to contend with intense sunlight, sudden rain, coastal air and long periods of heat. A successful product therefore needs more than an appealing profile. Aluminium offers a relatively light and corrosion-resistant base, while durable powder coating provides colour and a protective finish suited to outdoor use when the furniture is specified and maintained appropriately.

The value of local manufacturing is especially visible here. A product made for Australian conditions can be developed with regional use patterns in mind, from exposed suburban terraces to shaded restaurant gardens. Tait’s production model also allows attention to finish quality, replacement components and the practical requirements of commercial installations.

Goodrum’s furniture does not attempt to disguise its construction. The frame, mesh and connections remain legible, giving the collection an honest, almost architectural quality. That clarity makes Dapple compatible with contemporary buildings where structure and material are part of the visual composition.

It also places the range within a wider conversation about responsible design. Longevity is a meaningful sustainability measure: furniture that remains attractive, repairable and useful over many years is less likely to be discarded when a seasonal trend passes. Australian-made production adds another layer, shortening the distance between design development, fabrication and the people who use the finished pieces.

How the collection works with architecture

A strong outdoor setting depends on relationships between furniture, building, landscape and climate. Dapple can act as a bridge between these elements because its patterned surfaces are visually substantial without becoming opaque. The furniture defines a zone for dining or conversation while allowing paving, planting and architectural edges to remain visible.

On a timber deck, the perforated metal introduces a crisp counterpoint to natural grain. Against concrete, it adds warmth through colour and human scale. In a courtyard surrounded by masonry, the repeated pattern can echo screens, balustrades or breeze blocks. These combinations show why the collection is relevant to architects and landscape designers as much as to residential customers.

Material dialogue can continue inside the home. A richly textured rug, for example, can make an adjacent covered terrace feel like a genuine extension of the living area; Contemporary’s feature on Australian wool rugs explores how regional references and tactile surfaces shape that kind of interior atmosphere. The same principle applies outdoors, where texture prevents a hardscape from feeling purely technical.

The furniture is also well suited to transitional spaces. A verandah, balcony or winter garden can require pieces that tolerate outdoor exposure while still meeting the visual expectations of an interior. Dapple’s colour and pattern give it enough presence to hold its own in those in-between rooms.

A closer look at the design decisions

Design consideration Goodrum’s approach Effect in a space
Surface Perforated aluminium panels Lightness, airflow and patterned shadow
Structure Rounded, clearly expressed frames A friendly silhouette with architectural clarity
Finish Durable powder-coated colour Visual coordination or a strong accent
Use Dining, lounging and hospitality settings Flexibility across residential and commercial projects
Production Australian manufacturing through Tait Close connection between design and fabrication
Longevity Robust materials and enduring form A reduced reliance on short-lived outdoor trends

The collection’s appeal comes from the way these decisions reinforce one another. The perforation would feel less distinctive without the curved frame, and the curved frame would be less expressive without colour and pattern. Each feature performs a practical role while contributing to the identity of the range.

This is a useful lesson for anyone specifying outdoor furniture. A product does not need to be visually complicated to create character. Carefully resolved proportions, a durable finish and a considered relationship between solid and void can give a simple chair or table a strong architectural presence.

Goodrum’s work also demonstrates why outdoor furniture deserves attention as a design discipline in its own right. Weather resistance cannot be separated from form, comfort or context. The best pieces accept those constraints and turn them into opportunities for a more distinctive visual language.

Where it sits in the Australian design landscape

Dapple belongs to a generation of Australian products that treat local identity as something more nuanced than a literal reference to landscape. Its Australian character is found in its response to light, climate, outdoor social life and manufacturing capability. There is no need for overt symbolism when the design understands the conditions in which it will be used.

That approach has parallels across architecture and interiors. Coloured concrete floors, discussed in Contemporary’s feature on coloured concrete interiors, show how a familiar building material can become an expressive surface. Dapple works in a similar way: aluminium is a practical material, but pattern, colour and proportion give it emotional and spatial depth.

The collection is also relevant to the growing overlap between domestic and hospitality design. As homes gain outdoor kitchens, covered dining areas and flexible entertaining zones, homeowners are looking for pieces that can withstand use without looking institutional. Restaurants, hotels and workplaces face a corresponding demand for furniture that communicates a clear identity while remaining robust.

For design professionals, Goodrum’s example offers a model of collaboration. The designer brings conceptual direction and an understanding of use; the manufacturer contributes technical knowledge, production infrastructure and a long-term product strategy. Their partnership demonstrates how Australian design can be distinctive without relying on novelty alone.

Ways to specify the range with intention

The most successful installations begin with the atmosphere of the setting rather than the furniture catalogue. Consider how the pieces will be seen from inside, how the sun moves across the site and whether the surrounding materials call for contrast or visual continuity. Dapple’s pattern is especially effective when it has room to cast shadows and interact with planting or textured surfaces.

For a residential project, a restrained colour can allow the furniture to blend with architecture while still adding detail. A stronger finish may be more appropriate where the outdoor area needs a focal point. In a hospitality or workplace setting, colour can support wayfinding, reinforce a brand palette or distinguish different zones without introducing permanent architectural changes.

Practical selection should remain part of the design conversation:

Goodrum’s work rewards this kind of thoughtful placement. The furniture is expressive enough to anchor a space, yet flexible enough to support different layouts and patterns of use. That combination is valuable in Australian homes, where one outdoor area may shift from quiet morning retreat to family dining room or social venue within a single day.

The collection’s tactile quality also connects to the sensory design of adjacent interiors. In a music-focused home, for instance, acoustic treatment can be part of the architectural character rather than hidden behind finishes; Contemporary’s article on acoustic panels considers that relationship between performance and visual expression. Outdoor furniture can be approached with the same care, balancing comfort, atmosphere and technical performance.

A considered future for outdoor living

Adam Goodrum’s Dapple collection remains compelling because it does not reduce outdoor furniture to either utility or decoration. It treats a chair, table or bench as a small piece of architecture: something that shapes movement, frames views, responds to climate and contributes to the identity of a place.

For Australian design, that balance is significant. Local products can be durable without becoming anonymous, expressive without becoming wasteful and contemporary without losing a connection to how people actually live. Goodrum and Tait show that the path to a recognisable national design language may lie in careful observation of material, light and everyday rituals.

Explore the collection through the lens of your own project, and follow Contemporary for more profiles of Australian designers, makers, spaces and ideas shaping the places we share.